occasionally photographic ramblings

One of my television guilty pleasures is “Castle” on ABC. Yes, it has its issues with formula episodes and sometimes rather cheesy plots, but it’s mostly just fun. I still think ABC having a ghost writer create these books is a fantastic marketing move, and “Heat Rises” is the third book of the Nikki Heat series, “written” by Richard Castle. As a tie-in to a network TV show it does its job well by referencing events and mirroring character traits. As a standalone crime novel, I found the mystery to be very compelling, although at times confusing.

We begin with Jameson Rook being gone on a long research trip, and Nikki Heat missing him but questioning the nature of their relationship. She also recently took the written portion of the Lieutenant’s exam looking for the rare promotion and pay increase. Nikki and her force are soon called to check on a murdered priest found in a bondage club.

The priest is really only a catalyst to the twisting mystery and plot lines in this novel. There is corruption, entanglements, more murder, relationships, revenge and politics playing roles in the investigation. I find the book really hits the mark when Nikki is removed from duty and partners with Rook to work the investigation unofficially. In the end loose ends are tied up (with the exception of the cliffhanger) and Nikki remembers who she works for: the Victim.

My guess is that the ghost writer of the second book returned for the third. The first Nikki Heat book, “Heat Wave” was a fun romp and fluff. These last two books have been more serious mystery novels with detailed action writing and steamy foreplay and afterglow, which remind me of the Michael Connelly books I’ve read. Even with a more serious tone the Richard Castle books are a pleasure.

I’m a big fan of Mark Bittman – his books, Minimalist videos, even his judging on Iron Chef. My first cookbook I purchased was by Bittman (How to Cook Everything) and it has been extremely helpful on my culinary self-teaching journey. This cookbook is a companion to Bittmans Food Matters book written in 2008.

Yes, I did read an entire cookbook. This is a first for me, usually I just look for specific recipes that I know would be a hit with my family. But we needed change due to my husband’s gout flares, and I really needed a change in what I prepared and ate.

The first part of the book is a 30 page primer on how the Food Matters diet came to be. Bittman was overweight, had high blood sugar and cholesterol, sleep apnea and just had knee surgery. Basically his doctor told him that he needed to figure something out. These words were echoed to my husband, and with Bittman’s help we’ve been figuring it out too.

Part two of the book covers some basics. Bittman likes to use fresh vegetables, but doesn’t think organic is necessary. While many of the recipes are vegetarian, meat can be added in variations or it is used as a “side”. There are no difficult cooking techniques or special equipment requirements for any of the recipes either, making them accessible to all.

The recipes are divided into sections: Appetizers and Snacks; Soups; Salads and Dressings; Pasta, Noodles, and Dumplings; Rice and Grains; Beans; Vegetables; Bread, Pizza, Sandwiches, and Wraps; Desserts and Sweet Snacks. Each section starts with the easier recipes first and then increases in complexity.

I have about 40 post-it notes marking recipes to make and try. So far we’ve had Fried Chickpeas (pg 63) that while good straight from the oven they didn’t make great leftovers for later snacking. The Meat-and-Grain Loafs (pg 333) went over very well with our daughter. She proclaimed them the best thing I’ve ever made, although I disagree because I make a mean rack of ribs. But with only two ounces of meat per serving and loaded with grain (we used quinoa) and spinach I’m happy to make it for her whenever she’d like.

I’ve always been a refried bean fan and the Refried Black Bean recipe on pg 354 turned out wonderfully. Now, I did use bacon fat that I rendered and accidently added too much cumin, but pairing this with rice and topping it with sour cream diced tomatoes for a fairly healthy lunch worked extremely well. I just need more ideas on what to do with refried beans other than with rice, on nachos or in tacos.

My husband and daughter prepared the Spicy Carrot Cake on page 558. It didn’t turn out to be a spiced as we’d like but it was a very easy carrot cake to make. It turned out very moist and yummy.

If you are looking for help altering your diet to include more vegetables, less meat, more grains, less fat – this cookbook is great resource. I hope to make all 40 recipes I’ve marked, and then I will pick 40 more to try. I don’t know if I will ever make all 500 recipes, but I’ve read them all.

I picked this book up for cheap at Costco around the holidays. The last book I read by Connelly wasn’t bad and I enjoy a decent bestseller (especially after reading heavy content like The Organic Manifesto) so I thought of this book as a pellet cleanser of sorts.

Jack McEvoy is a reporter who covers death, wanting to know about it at all angles to write up a fantastic story for the news. “Death is my beat” reads the first line of the novel. But then everything in Jack’s life is turned upside down and shoved into his face. His twin brother was just found dead, alone in his car at Bear Lake. It looks like suicide, but Jack doesn’t believe it.

He’s right of course, not much of a story if it wasn’t murder. The suicide note that was found in the car turned out to be a calling card, quoted text from Edgar Allen Poe’s works. Jack plays detective in an investigation that soon involves the FBI, a child pornographer, a romantic entanglement and a demented murderer.

Connelly writes great thrilling, quick paced, developed novels. The Poet is a recommended read if you like this type of book.

(But ignore the introduction by Stephen King – I wonder if he actually read the book, because I didn’t find it “genuinely terrifying” or needing to read it “with all the lights on”. )

In elementary and junior high school I remember reading every “Choose Your Own Adventure” book I could get my hands on. You choose actions or inactions had they had true consequences on the story outcome. Well, if you were honest and didn’t peek at both options then choose. I remember there were a few excellent ones where I did read through to try and get all the endings. The “Choose Your Own Adventure” books are a very fond memory in my childhood.

I’m guessing that’s what Amazon decided to try to bank on with the “Interactive Fiction Game”. With Dusk World the idea of choosing an adventure is still there, but without the true freedom of choice. There are sections where you have to do things in a certain order, and certain way or you will not proceed. It can be quite frustrating.

The main character you play is Agent Patriot and the book (term used loosely) opens with you in a prison cell framed for murdering your former partner. Agent Patriot and most characters are “super humans” with abilities. You can leech the power of another and are a master of disguise. Once a criminal, then a war hero, and now a victim of a frame up, you want to clear your name and find out whom really killed your friend.

Content wise, the story is really weak. Backstory is inserted in odd places and I didn’t really feel connected to Dusk City as I explored it looking for clues. Some characters were convenient with their powers, like oh, I need someone who can make it rain… and there they are! For a game, it was horrible. I avoided anything considered an action sequence. We are talking about Kindle here, not a DS or Playstation, but it was still lacking.

Dusk World is an interesting concept on the Kindle, and hopefully Amazon can get some good writers to create a much better story to carry the interaction forward. I’m glad I bought it on sale, because I was truly disappointed.

Organic Manifesto: How organic farming can heal our planet, feed the world, and keep us safe
by Maria Rodale

We have poisoned our soil, our water and our children. Chemical farming has damaged our earth and our livelihood. The shift from organic farming to chemical farming was fueled by fear and money. While the transition from organic to chemical is easy, it’s difficult to reverse.

Maria Rodale has written and excellent, clear and emotionally charged manifesto explaining the history of chemical farming, proclaiming the evils of chemical corporations and backing it up with evidence of how chemicals are damaging. After reading this book, I am now more convinced than ever that it is important to eat organic as much as possible.

There are many benefits to organic farming, gardening and living organically. If chemical farming could be reduced to a minimum level the climate crises would immediately reduce significantly. Consider not just the chemicals applied to fields, but the fuel it takes for those chemicals to be applied with as well as the fuel used to deliver the chemical to the farmers. Without chemicals, soil condition would improve and regain it’s nutrients and ability to absorb water. Organic farming would reduce chemicals, reduce fuel use, and reduce water use.

Personal health is another benefit. Rodale highlights studies that have discovered that farming chemicals make it to our dinner tables – and that is a very scary thought. Various farming chemicals have been linked to cancer, miscarriages, diabetes, autism and many other major health conditions. If paying more for my food is an option to keep me and my family healthy, then it’s a fair trade off.

Organic farming is a more economical method of farming when compared to chemical farming. The only way that chemical produce costs less than organic is farm subsidies from the government. Organic farms do not benefit nearly as much from government programs. Chemical companies have an unfair hold over chemical farmers from seeds to store.

Rodale’s manifesto reads like propaganda, because it is. She is passionate about the organic way of life and has lived it all of hers. Her father founded the Rodale Institute, where they study benefits of organically grown produce and do control tests of chemical vs organic soil. I found the Organic Manifesto a very informative, clearly written, and passionately delivered read. I recommend it to anyone who would like more insight on the organic way of life.

For the Cannonball Read I managed to start strong and then teeter off. Reading and reviewing a book a week is an amazing feat – and congrats to all those that finished! My finished reviews are as follows:

01 - The Keeper by Sarah Langan

02 – Heat Wave by Richard Castle

03 – Plum Lucky by Janet Evanovich

04 – a painted house by John Grisham

05 – American Gods by Neil Gaiman

06 – The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

07 – Severance Package by Duane Swierczynski

08 – Food Matters by Mark Bittman

09 – Deeper than the Dead by Tami Hoag

10 – Playing for Pizza by John Grisham

11 – The Mark by Jason Pinter

12 – Grow Great Grub by Gayla Trail

13 – The Wheelman by Duane Swierczynski

14 – Mr. Murder by Dean Koontz

15 – The Long Fall by Walter Mosley

16 - An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England by Brock Clarke

17 – Honey, I Wrecked the Kids… by Alyson Schafer

My unreviewed books are:

18 – the Abs Diet: 6 Minute Meals for 6-Pack Abs by David Zinczenko – This is a quick primer to the Abs Diet with many quick recipes to mesh with the guidelines.  Abs Diet is basically like every other sensible diet -but just more OCD. Zinczenko knows his stuff and the book is worth a look sometime at Barnes and Noble to see if the recipes would work for you. Many feature the microwave – and I cannot bring myself to microwave an egg. I’m not in that big of a hurry.

19 – Echo Park by Michael Connelly – Connelly is excellent at the craft of crime fiction. This is the first book of the Harry Bosch series I’ve read, although far from the first written. The book won be over enough I will read more of Connelly.

20 – In The Flesh by Clive Barker – Creepy short fiction stories by Barker. Maybe even creepier than King – Maybe.

21 – Theodore Boone, Kid Lawyer by John Grisham – An excellent legal thriller aimed at tweens. An easy read for adults, it kept both me and my daughter entertained.

22 – Blockade Billy by Stephen King – Short blah stories written by King.

23 – Naked Heat by Richard Castle – A very solid addition to the Heat series. My feeling was that there was a different ghost writer this time because the book didn’t feel as light and fun as the TV series – and the last one did. A longer novel for sure, but the writing was…  different. I’m not saying that the change was a bad thing, again it was a very solid crime thriller. I just missed the fun.

24 – The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen – This is the first of a series of books featuring the characters from Rizzoli & Isles on TNT. Well, this book just featured Jane Rizzoli – and she wasn’t even the main character. The book was mostly from Detective Thomas Moore’s perspective. Hoyt, Rizzoli’s arch, is the feature and the book does enlighten the past events brushed over on the series. Gerritsen’s writing is very detailed, the scenes very vivid, but I found the characters to be lacking. This was her first novel and it looks like she has written many more. But much like Dexter, I find I need to choose between book and television version of the characters.

I’m participating in Cannonball Read III! I’m signed up for half a ‘ball. We begin again on the first of January! Read more about it and sign up here.

I have a four (almost five) year old daughter, Lor, who is very much determined to be smarter than me, and independent only on occasion. My husband and I have been baffled and frustrated at her behavior. We didn’t understand why the sticker chart worked awesome for four months but then became unnecessary (her word). She would go from independently bathing herself one week to crying because she couldn’t start the water the next. After 6 months of being driven crazy with so many ups and downs with Lor, we were baffled about what to do.

Thank you, Alyson Schafer, for writing Honey, I Wrecked the Kids. When Yelling, Screaming, Threats, Bribes, Time-outs, Sticker Charts and Removing Privileges All Don’t Work. Schafer is one of Canada’s (and USA’s) leading parenting experts. I found this book on amazon.com but only purchased it after reading the review on boingboing.net.  Sounded just like what I needed..

Schafer’s goal is to teach a parenting style that focuses away from rewards and discipline. Under practice that’s easier said than done. I grew up with both rewards (monetary reward for good grades, the better the grade the better the monies) and discipline (grounding, spanking, sentence writing, excess chores, etc) and survived. No parent is perfect, and we do the best we can with what we know. And while I came out okay, the methods that worked on me were not working on my daughter – I needed some new tools. A main difference of thought that Schafer presents, is that you don’t want to create an obedient child but a child that can be a problem solver, independent functioning, and to create an family environment where children can make decisions.

The main message is that if we change our ways, as parents, the children will change theirs. The beginning chapters focus on our reactions to situations – what we say, what we do, and what we don’t – and how we feel. These help determine what our child’s goal is when they misbehave. There is a super handy chart at the end of Chapter Three that neatly organizes goals versus feelings. The following chapters then delve into each goal, and how we can combat it: Attention, Power, Revenge, and Avoidance. Chapter Eight introduces the concept of family meetings. I’m eager to begin this family exercise, and should help Lorelei feel more included in our activities and decisions.

The whole book is a must read. Even if you don’t have a Revenge or Avoidance seeking child, both those chapters contain insight into other issues. I plan on re-reading this book with a highlighter and flag pen handy. I’ve learned that Lorelei is mostly Power driven in her acts right now (which means that she is wanting more responsibility and decision making choices), and that my current mixed bag of reactions really has only made us all more frustrated. Watching my interactions with Lor have help me realize that I tend to discourage her (which is a common parenting tactic) and she lashed back with her own methods of attack. I hope by learning and using the methods presented by Schafer, I will change my ways and Lorelei can feel connected, capable, counted and courageous (The 4 necessary C’s as Schafer calls them). I have had a success so far – on the bathing thing: by letting Lor choose a regular bath time (she decided to bathe right after dinner) she has been doing it on her own again for a few weeks. That lets us clean up the kitchen and then enough time to always have a story before bed. Which in turn, Lor gets to sleep earlier so she can get up earlier so we are not rushed in the morning so no one is late….. you get the idea. We all feel better.

“Kids who feel good – do good. Kids who feel bad – do bad.” – Dr. Jane Nelson

You know those pesky birds that run on the ground, beep and chirp at you and really try very hard to get you to follow them? Well, those are killdeer and they live in our neighborhood. We’ve tried for years to find eggs or see the little newly hatched fuzz balls – but we’ve never found them. But today, they found us.

There are four little ones, and boy they can run fast right out of the gate. It’s funny when you spook the family – everyone of them runs as fast as they can in a different direction. I did scare them when trying to get photos, so they aren’t quite ready to come back into our yard. Right now they are hanging in the gravel of the neighbor’s driveway, I can watch them from my office window. Hopefully I can get out and try to get more photos when it stops raining.

It’s neighborhood wildlife fun?

Sam Pulsifer is a bumbler. He knows it, his parents know it, his wife and children know it. Somehow (this story is never told in the book really) Sam managed to accidentally burn down the Emily Dickinson house and killed two people still inside. He spends ten years in prison then moves back to his parents’ house. When forced out, Sam moves on and creates a new life for himself.

This life he made is based on a lie – that his parents died in a house fire. Then another lie, then another and another. Then his parents lie, some old prison associates lie – each of these lies damaging to Sam when he discovers the truth. Sam finally tells one more lie that is larger than all the lies combined, it lands him back in prison where he writes his story – The Arsonist’s Guide.

The writing in the novel takes some getting used to. The sentences are long and can be repetitive. “Apropos of nothing” – that exact phrase was used at least five times in the book. Granted, the writing style puts the reader in Sam’s bumbling head and you get a true sense of how naïve and clueless he is.

Overall I didn’t find the book as funny as the quoted reviews featured on the cover. I found it more ridiculous than anything else. To sum it up: It was okay.

Today is Lucky “Silver” Nichols’ 8th Birthday! She was – and still is sometimes – our first baby, a honeymoon baby actually! Yes, we bought a dog on our honeymoon. Lucky is one of the smartest dogs I’ve known. Even in her old age I’ve managed to teach her a few things. She can now speak, ask nicely, and bring me her bowl – all of which Brad wishes I had not taught her. Yeah, ok – so a dog barking at you first thing in the morning isn’t the greatest, but Lucky is more than worth it. She is very in-tune with our feelings, knowing when to comfort and when to just hang out and keep us company. She is so beautiful, and we are the lucky ones.